Goodbye Minzy - A Failure of Blackjack

Hi y’all.

It’s been 2 days since the news broke out and got us in shook.

As much as I don’t want to talk about it -coz just like you all, I’m still in grief- I have to. I don’t know why, I just have to.

This event is simply devastating. I woke up the other day wishing it’s only a terrible nightmare and the next day YG will surprise us with comeback teasers.

But no. It ain’t happening.

As much as I want to refuse to accept this, it’s pointless, because it IS happening.

Minzy is gone, and looking at the most talked-about behind the scene rumors that are going around, the detail of this withdrawal is so messy~ It doesn’t look like a beautiful farewell.

It started with a rumor. Tuesday morning I checked Twitter and my timeline moved so fast. These guys had been talking about Minzy already in contact with other company, following contract expiration with YG –which will happen in May– The source was unknown. Probably a YG insider leaked this information, or the other company’s staffs. We never knew. It could be anyone.

Been seeing a lot of negative rumor about 2NE1 in the past 2 years, I chose to ignore it. Here we go again, I thought. Some shady haters were at it again.

I was just about to forget what I just read when the news told me that YG would hold press conference at the same day. This is where things got fishy. What’s with the rush? Is it urgent?

So I stood by my Twitter and there it was. Few hours later, they confirmed it. Minzy doesn’t renew her contract. She is leaving the group. It’s still unconfirmed if she is leaving YG or not. But one thing for sure, 2NE1 will continue as three.

The reason is she asked more from YG than he could ever give. It is basically because she is jobless. YG barely gives her job and in a way, it makes her frustrated. In a sense, YG is just being unfair to her.

Do you notice the irony? When other members of popular group left because their company overworked them, Minzy is leaving because her company doesn’t give her any job.

Anyway, so Minzy breaks the internet. Many ideas are popping out. People started the blame game. Some said it’s YG fault, some said it’s just Minzy being greedy, some said it’s CL’s fault, Dara’s fault, Bom’s fault, etc.

I don’t think OT3 is involved though. I think this is only between YG and Minzy.

But I try to make sense here. If you look at both’s perpective, this is actually a win-win solution.

For Minzy, she is free now. She can do whatever she wants. She can join a company which will give her better treatment, better management, better salary. She can finally spread her wings.

For YG, they are free from the responsibility to give Minzy a career. They are free from whiny Blackjack who always asks for Minzy’s solo.

But why didn’t YG give her job at the first place?

As much as I hate to say this, maybe Minzy herself isn’t that marketable. The effort of YG investing something on her, is not that profitable either. 

Yes, I know she is crazy talented and very all-rounded. But I always think that Minzy lacks in personality. Among 2NE1, Minzy is the least popular member. Her image is very weak. She doesn’t have that superstar aura. Other than being a 2NE1 member, general public barely know her.

Visual wise, yes Minzy is pretty, but her face isn’t commercial material like Dara’s. She can’t nail every makeup. She is not a fashion icon. Products need attached-personality to be marketed by an ambassador and Minzy doesn’t have that potential.

This is also why YG can’t send her to TV shows. Most variety PDs usually choose member who is popular or has interesting personality/character, so that they can boost the rating.

In short, she doesn’t have that X-factor to stand alone, especially in the shady industry like Kpop who cares a lot about image and visual.

So why didn’t YG give her a song?

You know what, they tried.

We all knew they tried. Last year they sent Minzy to America to train for weeks. She learned dancing and singing, also tried to make songs. We were all hoping that it would be for her solo album, or solo single at least.

But it resulted in nothing. Minzy went home and went back to school like she used to. No so-called promised music is made. So maybe they have given up on her.

Why? Maybe she simply can’t improve. She’s already at her limit she failed to comply what YG expected of her. Solo debut needs big effort because it is a huge responsibility, especially Minzy is a member of 2NE1, the most prolific girlgroup in Asia, or arguably the world. Expectation are high.

Those are the reasons I could think of. What I want to discuss in this post is actually different thing. I want to talk about how we, as Blackjack, failed to see this coming. We failed to foresee this.

Minzy has given us many clues. Her Instagram name, her rare present when 2NE1 reunited, her almost none support to CL, Bom or Dara’s solo project, the birthday messages, etc.

But we never wonder why because we trust Minzy. Like CL said, Minzy is always our reliable maknae. We believe Minzy will always be there, will always patiently wait. 

It's very saddening now that we think about that. When we were busy worrying about Bom's condition, whether she is okay or not. When we were busy worrying about CL's US debut, whether she ever made it or not. When we were busy worrying about Dara's acting career...

Minzy is there alone neglected like no one care. 

So another idea popped. Is Minzy jealous or feeling overshadowed? Is she actually on bad term with the girls too? No one knows unless you know them personally. But if this is a supporting factor for Minzy to leave, it makes sense.

Look, imma be honest with you all. I’m worried. Not about 2NE1, but Minzy. Like I said before, Minzy is so lacking in public image. Even with 2NE1 and YG help, she can’t be that popular. Let alone made a solo debut.

As for 2NE1, the brand is already established. The name remains strong worldwide regardless their two years hiatus. So as long as they still can produce good music and maintain the image and the brand, Minzy’s withdrawal wouldn’t affect them so much.

Especially now that they –with CL as the starter– try to embark to US music scene. Yes they’re gonna lose Minzy’s fans, but the opportunity to gain even more fans is bigger. Way bigger.

I come to the conclusion 2NE1 maybe survive without Minzy. But Minzy will not survive without 2NE1.

So yeah, Blackjack, it’s up to us now. Do you still want to support Minzy? Or 2NE1? Or both? I myself stand for 2NE1. Even though I have no idea how they are gonna divide Minzy’s singing and dancing part. CL’s will have to do more jobs since she’s the second best dancer. But what kind of adjustment Dara and Bom will undergo?

Let’s just have our finger crossed for this summer comeback to be okay.

Meanwhile, we still have remaining one month with Minzy. We’ll see if she changes her mind.

Lastly, I wanna address a few things to certain people.

To Minzy, good luck to whatever you are doing in the future. We understand how much stress you had to deal with to make this decision and the after effects. Thank you so much for your hardwork, patience and all sacrifices you did for 2NE1. We -2NE1 and Blackjack- will always be your home. Do come home whenever you feel like it. We wish you the best, love. Always.

To YG, I hope you learn something from this tragedy, especially in artist management department. I hope in the future you will learn not to waste your artist’s talents and actually give them proper treatment. Take care the remaining three for us. 2NE1 is just too big to be dismissed, so get your shit together, take a risk, and fix whatever that should be fixed.

To CL, Dara and Bom, good luck processing post-Minzy adjustment. It will be one hell of a process. Minzy is the backbone of most songs who got at least 40% of the part. So good luck with that.

To S*ne, congratulation. You got your payback. Our fave is still better than yours though.

And to all of you who mention me on Twitter, send your condolence and support, or simply cry along and sympathize, thank you so much, I appreciate your concern.

I’m so sorry if I can’t respond to you one by one. I’m still grieving and I don’t think I’ll recover over the week. So I’d be thankful if you don’t ask me about 2NE1 or Minzy at least until this week is over, or probably the whole of April. I don’t know guys, just leave me alone.

PS: Prevent yourself from listening to 2NE1 songs this week. It fucking hurts.